laudable Practice

In our readings from Robert Nelson's The Life of Dr. George Bull (1713), we have previously considered Bull's reading of 'the prayers' (that is, Morning and Evening Prayer), and his ministry from the pulpit . Today we turn to his administration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. While Nelson is still, at this point, discussing Bull's incumbency in the years following the Restoration, it almost certainly stands as a description of his administration of the sacraments throughout his ministry. In doing so it also reveals something of how the understanding of the Sacraments in Anglicanism throughout the 'long 18th century'. Nelson begins by drawing attention to the frequency of Bull's administration of the Holy Communion in his parish: He Administered the Sacraments of our Holy Religion with great Reverence and Solemnity; The Holy Eucharist, the Mysterious and the Rite and Perfection of Christian Worship, was not performed so often in this Parish, ...

As of old it was called Mensa Domini as well as Altare Domini , the one having reference to the participation, the other to the oblation of the eucharist ... it is in most of the fathers sometimes called a table. Cosin's words are a reminder that the Prayer Book's consistent use of 'The Table', 'the Lord's Table', 'the holy Table' is not to contradict any use of 'Altar' but, rather, to emphasise that we "verily and indeed" feed on our Lord in the holy Eucharist.  Mensa Domini is a declaration of a true feeding in "these holy mysteries".   There is, therefore, no need for Anglicans to be embarrassed about such usage in the Prayer Book.  In fact, we should be celebrating it as a deeply patristic usage which points to the truth of our feeding upon the Lord's Body and Blood in the Sacrament. Consider, for example, Chrysostom's use of 'Table' in his homilies on I Corinthians: You have partaken of such a Table ...